Getting Started

To access MyRSC you will first need to register. Visit http://my.rsc.org click the register button, enter your details and submit.

To complete registration, follow the steps and personalise your profile and account settings.

Once you are registered and logged into MyRSC you are free to explore the site. This Quick Start Guide should help you find what you need on the site. But if you need further assistance, please email myrsc@rsc.org

MyRSC Homepage

Once you have logged in; you will first view your homepage.

Under the Navigation Bar there are some useful links in the sub navigation where you can edit your account.

• My Account Here you can change your password, update your email address and alter your privacy and notification settings. The notification settings allow you to control what types of automated email alerts you receive from MyRSC as a whole. It should be noted that MyRSC also has the facility to fully personalise the emails that you receive from each MyRSC group that you have joined-more details about how to do this can be found under the 'controlling which automated email alerts you receive' section below.
• My Content Here you can manage and view all of your own uploaded content - Photos, Videos and Files. You can add title, descriptions and tags (which are useful to make content discoverable). You can also Upload additional content by clicking the + Add button at the top of the page. If you want to remove content then first click on the content and then click Delete.
• Contacts This section lists all the contacts that you have on the site. From here you can click onto a profile to view their details and site activity. You can also send private messages to your contacts from their profile.
• Edit Profile Edit and add more information to your profile; update your education, professional and other interests. You can also add links to other professional and social networks including Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. View your profile by pressing the subsequent View Profile tab.
• Inbox This is where any site messages that you have sent or received are stored.
• Invite Here you can send invitations to your colleagues and external contacts to join MyRSC. To send multiple invites, please separate each email address from the next one with a comma.
• View Profile This page displays how your personal profile appears to other MyRSC users. If you want to change your profile picture click on change profile photo underneath your current profile image which will open a new window where you can upload a new photo. Once you have uploaded a picture, click on the image and it will bring up a pop-up box, select the Make this my Profile Picture tick box. You can view all your uploaded content by clicking the My Content tab.

The Navigation Bar

The Navigation Bar is the easiest way to move around the site. The Navigation Bar is located at the top of every page and is the same as the one below. The upper row of tabs will direct you to the main sections of MyRSC; the lower row of tabs allow you to perform various tasks within each of the main sections. This lower row of tabs change according to which page you are on and are explained in each section of the Quick start guide.

Home Edit your account settings, view recent activity on MyRSC	Groups A home for those with similar interests to organise events, discuss and share resources	Forum Leave questions and messages on a range of topics	Blogs Browse the MyRSC blogs	Events Find public events in both calendar and listing formats
Resources Access photos, files, videos and volunteer resources	Careers Here RSC members can access a wide range of careers advice and support	Talk Chemistry The home of the online community for chemistry teachers	e-Membership an online only membership offered by the RSC

Contacts

The Contacts tab, located under the MyRSC navigation tab, allows you to search for other MyRSC members. You can also see which other users are currently online.

It also possible to search for members of MyRSC using the search box located in the black bar which runs across the top of every page.

To add a friend or colleague as a contact on MyRSC, firstly click on their profile and then click Add as Contact (located underneath their profile picture).

Controlling which automated email alerts you receive

Being a member of MyRSC you have the ability to control exactly what sort of automated email alerts you receive from the site.

To access your settings, please do the following:

1) Click on My Account (this tab is above your profile picture on the MyRSC home page)

2) Then click on the notification tab which will take you to the page which shows you your notification settings for the site as a whole.

For example- if you 'untick' the box next to 'email me when I am invited or activity happens in a group that I am a member of', then you will not get any automated emails from any of your groups on MyRSC, regardless of what your settings may be within those groups.

Please remember to save your changes before you leave this page.

If you are a member of one or more groups on MyRSC, you can also choose what automated alerts you receive from each group you are a member of.

To alter these alerts, click on settings in the Groups Navigation section on the left hand side of your group homepage. Here you will see that you can turn your own personal settings on or off for the various alerts that have been selected for your group. Changing these settings here will only affect you and no-one else in your group.

Everything you need to know about groups

Groups are a great way for you to build a community around shared interests, events and ideas.

To find groups, search the groups using the search box, or browse via the Groups tab on the Navigation Bar. Here you will find a tab called My Groups, where you can view groups you've joined or set up.

To become an active member of a group you must first click the Join button in the top right of the group page.

You can then edit your notifications so that you receive an email to inform you when new posts, documents and events are added. Click settings in the Group Navigation block on each group page to adjust these.

On each group homepage there are several useful blocks of information. 

• Group News highlights current information and discussions. If you have created a group, you can update Group News manually using your Group Admin button.
• All Group Activity Section shoes the most recent activity, including events, forum posts and file uploads.
• The Navigation block on the left hand side of the group homepage links you to group content and your group Settings.

The Navigation block contains the following links:

• Home navigates to the group homepage
• Members This brings up a list of the group members, clicking on each member brings up their profile.
• Invite If this feature is enabled for the group in question, you can invite friends and colleagues to join the group via email. You can send this invite to people who are not already members of MyRSC, but they will have to register with the site to be able to join the group.
• Forum This is a great way to share and discuss information. New Topic allows you to post a new message. Text is formatted in much the same way as it is when using a word processor. If you are adding an important post you can Anchor the post to the top of the forum by clicking the anchor flag (this is the flag symbol in the message edit box).
• Events View and add events to the group calendar - to do this click Add Event.
• Photos and Files Share content with group members. Click Add Photos or Add Files buttons which are below the navigation box on the left hand side.
• Settings Adjust the notifications you receive from the group. You can also leave the group by clicking on the red 'leave group' box in the upper right.

Information for group administrators

The Group Admin button is very important. After updating each tab please remember to press Save and Continue before editing the next section:

• Details Add a group logo/photo, a Group Description, and a group location/address. When searching or browsing groups the group description appears under your group name.
• Settings Choose what content is available to members. These areas appear in the left hand group Navigation Block
• Permissions Public, Private and Hidden settings determine how visible the group is. Hidden groups do not show up in searches so remember to invite members to join the group. If your group is Private you will need to approve each request to join the group. Any MyRSC user can join a Public group.
• Notifications Set the default group notifications for all of your group members to determine when they will receive messages from the group.
• Messaging Write a personal welcome, or inform members of current activities. To Invite members; first click Invite to Group, then Select contacts to Invite then press send - you can invite non-MyRSC members by email too.
• Members Manage group members and accept pending members (depending on whether your group is public, private or hidden).
• News Is an excellent way to keep members up to date with all group activities, and pointing them to discussions - we advise you update this regularly.

Resources

Resources is home to MyRSC resources including photos, files and videos. If you are a member of committees and local sections, or a volunteer for the benevolent fund and the younger member networks then Resources is the access point for the Volunteer Resources area. To browse Files, Videos and Photos follow the onscreen links. If you would like to upload content then click on Manage My Files on the left hand side.